The    Numismatic   and    Antiquarian 
Society  of  Philadelphia 


SOME 


MODERN  MONETARY  QUESTIONS 


VIEWED 


BY  THE  LIGHT  OF  ANTIQUITY 


A.    PAPER    RK.AH    BEFORE    THE    SOCIETY    APRIL    i    i8€ 


IJY 


ROBERT   NOXON   TOPPAN 


PHILADELPHIA 
RIXTKD   FOR  THE  SOCIETY 

1880 


INTERNATIONAL  COINAGE. 


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The    Numismatic  and   Antiquarian 
Society  of  Philadelphia 


SOME  ' 


MODEM  MONETARY  QUESTIONS 


VIEWED 


BY  THE  LIGHT  OF  ANTIQUITY 


A  PAPER  READ  BEFORE  THE  SOCIETY  APRIL 


BY 


ROBERT   NOXON   TOPPAN 


PHILADELPHIA 
PRINTED  FOR  THE  SOCIETY 

1880 


The   Numismatic  and    Antiquarian 
Society  of  Philadelphia. 


FOUNDED  JANUARY  ist,   1858. 

OFFICERS. 

1880. 


PRESIDENT. 

ELI   K.  PRICE. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

WILLIAM  S.  VAUX, 
WILLIAM  P.  CHANDLER, 
EDWIN  W.  LEHMAN, 
DANIEL  G.  BRINTON,  m.d. 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY. 

HENRY  PHILLIPS,  Jr. 

RECORDING  SECRETARY. 

J.  HAYS  CARSON. 

TREASURER. 

HENRY  PHILLIPS,  Jr. 

HISTORIOGRAPHER. 

CHARLES  HENRY  HART. 

CURATOR   OF  NUMISMATICS. 

ROBERT  COULTON  DAVIS. 

CURATOR   OF  ANTIQUITIES. 

PHILIP  HOWARD  LAW. 

LIBRARIAN. 

FRANCIS  JORDAN,  Jr. 


4*7^0^12 


4fMxO«fQFT    UMAAY 


s:ome 

MODEM  MONETARY  QUESTIONS 

VIEWED 

BY  THE  LIGHT  OF  ANTIQUITY 

Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  Numismatic  and  Antiquarian 
Society  of  Philadelphia : — 
The  two  pieces  of  money  of  antiquity  exhibited  this  evening — 
one  the  gold  stater  of  Alexander  the  Great,  the  other  the  gold  de- 
narius, or  as  it  is  generally  called  the  aureus,  of  Augustus — suggest 
some  facts  in  regard  to  ancient  coinage,  which  it  will  be  well  for 
us  to  consider  with  attention,  as  they  have  a  practical  bearing  upon 
some  of  the  monetary  questions  of  the  present  time.  As  is  well 
known  to  the  members  of  this  Society,  the  progressive  steps  in  com- 
mercial intercourse  were,  first,  direct  barter,  then  a  selection  of  a 
common  medium  of  exchange,  such  as  cattle  or  food  of  some  kind, 
and  finally  the  adoption  of  a  metal  which,  being  in  its  nature  dur- 
able, easily  divisible  and  of  intrinsic  value,  was  found  by  experi- 
ence to  be  the  best  medium.  The  selection  of  the  metal  depended, 
of  course,  upon  the  locality.  In  Lydia,  where  gold  abounded,  that 
metal  was  naturally  used  and  became  the  standard  of  values.  In 
Greece,  where  the  silver  mines  were  worked  for  many  centuries, 
silver  became  the  medium  of  exchange.  In  Sicily  and  Italy,  where 
copper  was  very  abundant,  that  metal  was  used  and  became,  of 
course,  the  standard  of  values. 


When  commerce  between  nations  was  developed — between  nations 
having  different  metallic  systems  of  money — the  relative  values  of 
the  different  metals  adjusted  themselves,  from  time  to  time.     The 
intrinsic  value  of  gold  was  found  to  be  superior  to  that  of  silver, 
and  the  value  of  silver  superior  to  that  of  copper.     A  pound  of 
gold  was  worth  several  pounds  of  silver,  and  a  pound  of  silver 
many  pounds  of  copper.     The  relation,  however,  between  the  three 
metals  was  never  permanent,  as  was  natural.     Sometimes  the  gold 
mines  produced  more,  sometimes  less  metal.     Sometimes  the  de- 
mand was  greater,  sometimes  less.     The  same  rule  applied  to  silver 
and  to  copper.     Where  there  is  only  one  metal  as  the  standard,  there 
are  only  two  elements  of  disturbance — the  demand  and  supply. 
Where  a  bi-metallic  system  prevails,  there  are  four  elements  of  dis- 
turbance.    Where  a  tri-metallic  standard  exists  or  could  exist,  there 
would  be,  of  course,  six  elements  to  disturb  the  relation  j  it  could 
therefore  never  be  fixed.     Only,  with  all  the  variations,  gold  was 
always  more  valuable  than  silver,  and  silver  more  valuable  than  cop- 
per.    This  is  a  matter  of  so  much  importance  at  the  present  time, 
and  the  experience  of  antiquity  bears  so  directly  upon  the  monetary 
question  that  has  agitated  the  country  for  the  past  few  years,  that  I 
venture  to  give  an  extract  from  the  recent  publication  of  M.  Francois 
Lenormant,  the  French  savant  and  authority  in  numismatics.     In 
his  work,  published  in  1878,  called  "La  Monnaie  dans  l'Antiquite," 
Vol.  I,  page  173,  he  says  :  "  On  peut  poser  en  principe  que  les  an- 
ciens   ne  connurent  pas  la  pretention  irrealisable  de  ce  qu'on  a 
appele  de  nos  jours  la  monnaie  bimetallique  ou  le  double  6talon. 
Chez  eux  l'on  constate,  au  contraire,  toujours  le  choix  d'un  seul 
metal  adopte"   comme  etalon  fondamental  et  regulateur  de  tout  le 
systeme  monetaire.     Seulement  le  m6tal  choisi  a  varie,  comme  il 
devait  arriver  necessairement,  suivant  les  circonstances  particulieres 
des  contrees  et  des  6poques." 

"  We  can  lay  down  the  principle  that  the  ancients  knew  no- 
thing about  the  unattainable  pretension  of  what  is  called  at  the 
present  time  bi-metallic  money,  or  the  double  standard.     On  the 


5 

contrary,  we  always  find  that  they  adopted  one  metal  as  the  funda- 
mental standard,  upon  which  was  based  their  whole  monetary 
system.  The  metal  selected,  however,  varied,  as  must  necessarily 
happen,  according  to  the  particular  circumstances  of  the  countries 
and  of  the  periods." 

Language  could  hardly  be  stronger  to  condemn,  by  the  light  of 
experience,  the  attempt  made  recently  to  reinstate  in  its  former 
position  a  metal  which  the  force  of  circumstances  has  driven  to  a 
subordinate  place,  and  if  persisted  in,  it  must  lead  to  financial 
trouble. 

The  same  process  that  has  been  going  on  in  Europe  and  America 
since  the  addition  to  the  amount  of  gold  in  the  world  by  the  pro- 
ducts of  California  and  Australia — the  substitution  of  a  gold  basis 
for  a  silver  one — can  be  distinctly  traced  in  the  monetary  history  of 
Rome,  where  the  old  copper  standard  was  slowly  displaced  by  silver 
as  that  metal  became  more  abundant,  from  conquest  and  by  com- 
mercial intercourse,  and  silver  in  turn  yielded  to  gold  when  that 
metal  became  sufficiently  abundant  to  supply  the  demands  of  com- 
merce, so  that  silver  became  subsidiary  to  gold,  just  as  copper  had 
become  subsidiary  to  silver. 

Another  lesson  applicable  to  the  present  day  can  be  learned  from 
the  weights  of  the  ancient  coins.  The  old  idea  of  money  being  a 
valuable  commodity,  selected  as  a  medium  of  exchange,  its  weight 
was  naturally  regulated  by  the  standard  weight  of  the  country. 
Before  the  invention  of  what  is  called  coinage,  irregular  pieces  of 
metal  were  used  as  a  medium  of  exchange,  which  passed  by  weight. 
At  each  transaction  it  was  necessary  to  weigh  the  pieces,  which  were 
definite  parts  of  the  standard  weight  of  the  country.  The  same 
custom  still  prevails  in  some  of  the  Oriental  countries.  For 
instance,  where  the  Babylonian  standard  of  weights  existed,  the 
pieces  of  metal  used  as  money  were  definite  unfractional  parts  of 
the  Babylonian  mina  and  talent.  So  many  drachma  pieces  weighed 
a  mina,  and  so  many  a  talent.  In  all  the  various  systems  of 
antiquity  we  find  the  same  rule.     In  Athens  a  hundred  drachma 


pieces  of  silver  weighed  a  mina,  and  six  thousand  a  talent.  We 
find  the  same  thing  in  the  Sicilian  and  Italian  systems.  Taking 
Rome  as  an  example,  the  Aes,  or  As,  as  it  is  most  generally  called, 
which  was  the  unit  of  the  old  system,  weighed  originally  one  libra 
or  pound,  divided  into  12  ounces,  and  the  subdivisions  weighed 
6,  4,  3,  2,  1  and  J  ounces.  When  the  successive  diminutions  took 
place,  the  rule  of  adhering  to  a  definite  part  of  the  pound  was 
still  followed.  The  first  reduction  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place 
after  the  battle  of  Allia  (390  B.C.)  when  the  As  became  §  of  a 
pound,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  money.  During  the  war  with 
Pyrrhus  and  Tarentnra  (279  B.C.)  it  was  again  reduced  to  J  of  a 
pound.  In  269  B.C.  to  J,  and  in  217  B.C.,  when  Hannibal  threat- 
ened Rome  itself,  it  was  again  reduced  to  tSr  of  the  pound.  There 
were  two  other  reductions  up  to  the  time  of  Augustus,  one  in  89 
B.C.,  making  the  As  fy  and  the  other  h  of  a  pound. 

•The  same  rule  can  be  seen  in  the  silver  coinage.  In  the  begin- 
ning 72  denarii  were  coined  out  of  a  pound  of  silver ;  then  84 ; 
and  afterwards' Nero  reduced  the  weight  of  the  denarius  so  as  to 
make  96  to  a  pound. 

In  the  gold  coinage  the  same  thing  can  be  observed.  Sylla 
issued  an  aureus,  thirty  of  which  weighed  a  pound,  then  36,  which 
rule  Pompey  followed.  Csesar  issued  a  lighter  aureus,  divided  into 
100  sestertii,  40  of  which  made  a  pound.  Augustus  diminished 
the  weight  slightly,  so  that  42  made  the  pound.  The  aureus  of 
Nero  weighed  ?V,  and  that  of  Caracalla  ?V  of  a  pound.  Con- 
stantine  made  his  aureus,  or  as  it  is  generally  called  the  solid  us 
(from  which  come  the  words  sol  and  sou),  of  the  same  weight  as 
the  original  silver  denarius,  so  that  72  weighed  a  pound.  The 
Merovingian  kings,  who  built  up  their  monarchy  upon  the  ruins  of 
Rome,  made  their  solidus  the  it  part  of  the  Roman  pound.  It 
will  be  seen  from  these  examples  that  the  old  idea  of  money,  cor- 
responding to  definite  parts  of  the  standard  weight  of  the  country, 
still  prevailed,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  silver  money  was 
constantly  more  and  more  debased,  until  finally  even  a  trace  of  silver 


had  almost  entirely  disappeared,  and  the  imperial  despotism  had 
gradually  accustomed  men  to  consider  the  imperial  effigy  as  alone 
giving  value  to  the  pieces  of  metal. 

If  we  now  examine  the  monetary  systems  of  modern  times,  we 
will  find  that  the  idea  of  coinage  corresponding  to  the  standard 
weight  of  the  country  was  almost  entirely  lost  sight  of,  until  the 
French  established  their  new  metric  system.  For  instance,  the 
English  sovereign,  which  is  their  unit,  weighs  123  grains  and  toV<f 
of  a  grain — a  fractional  part  of  the  Troy  pound,  which  is  the  stan- 
dard weight  for  coins — so  that  it  takes  46  sovereigns  and  tV?  of  a 
sovereign  to  weigh  one  Troy  pound.  To  obtain  an  even  number 
we  have  to  take  40  Troy  pounds,  which  are  coined  into  exactly 
1869  sovereigns.  The  American  silver  dollar  of  412J  grains  is 
also  fractional,  so  that  out  of  the  5760  grains  forming  the  Troy 
pound,  13  and  II  of  a  dollar  are  struck.  The  gold  dollar,  which 
was  made  the  unit  in  1873,  weighing  25t8o  grains,  it  requires  223 
dollars  and  H  of  a  dollar  to  make  a  pound.  It  is  needless  to  give 
further  examples.  »awcroft  library 

The  French  law  of  1795,  conforming  the  coinage  to  the  new 
metric  system,  was  confirmed  by  the  decree  of  1803,  when 
Napoleon  was  First  Consul.  The  change  was  not  simply  metric, 
but  also  decimal,  as  before  that  time  the  duodecimal  prevailed,  24 
livres  making  a  Louis  cl'Or.  A  five-gramme  piece  t<s  fine  was  de- 
clared to  be  the  unit,  and  was  to  be  called  a  franc.  In  order  to  obtain 
an  even  5  grammes,  the  livre  tournois  was  slightly  increased  in 
weight  and  in  value  about  sV.  All  the  silver  coins  were  made  to 
conform.  The  five-franc  piece,  for  instance,  weighs  25  grammes. 
The  half  franc  2.50  grammes.  The  copper  coins  were  also  made 
to  conform  ;  the  two-centime  piece  weighed  4  grammes,  the  three- 
centime  piece  6,  and  the  five-centime  piece  10  grammes.  In  1852 
the  weight  of  the  copper  coins  was  reduced  one-half,  but  still  con- 
forming, so  that  now  one  centime  weighs  1  gramme,  five  centimes  5, 
and  ten  centimes  10  grammes.  The  French  having  adopted  an 
arbitrary  ratio  between  gold  and  silver,  making  one  pound  of  gold 


8 

always  to  be  equal  to  15J  pounds  of  silver,  could  not  make  their 
gold  coins  conform  to  the  system.  The  twenty-franc  piece  weighs 
6.iwVo   grammes  and  the  five-franc  gold  piece  I.toWij  grammes. 

Experience  having  demonstrated  that  the  arbitrary  ratio  of  15 J 
to  1  is  incorrect,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  gold  coins  should  not 
be  adjusted  to  the  metric  system,  or  at  least  that  the  fractions  should 
not  be  made  simpler.  The  United  States,  generally  ready  to  ac- 
cept views  of  progress,  ordered,  in  1873,  that  the  half  dollar  piece 
and  other  subsidiary  silver  coins  should  be  struck  according  to  the 
metric  system,  and  the  half  dollar  now  weighs  12.50  grammes,  exactly 
half  of  the  five-franc  silver  piece,  and  the  five  cent-nickel  piece  weighs 
5  grammes,  so  that  the  people  can  gradually  become  accustomed  to 
the  gramme  system.  An  attempt  to  alter  this  law,  it  is  understood, 
will  probably  be  made  by  Congress,  which  ought  to  be  strenuously 
resisted  by  all  friends  of  progress. 

An  important  lesson  can  also  be  learned  from  the  ancient  idea  of 
coining.  It  having  been  found  that  the  weighing  of  the  money  at 
each  transaction  was  very  inconvenient,  the  irregular  pieces  of 
metal  were  shaped  so  as  to  receive  a  mark  upon  them,  and  the  gov- 
ernment placed  its  seal  on  them,  to  testify  that  they  conformed  to 
the  standard  weights.  The  stamping  was  simply  a  guaranty  of  the 
weight  and  purity.  The  coining  did  not  give  the  value,  it  simply 
testified  that  the  value  existed  in  the  piece.  This  was  the  true  and 
old  idea  of  coining.  The  ancients  never  supposed,  for  an  instant, 
that  the  official  seal  gave  the  value,  and  it  was  not  until  Roman 
Imperial  despotism  had  accustomed  men  to  almost  complete  slavery 
that  the  Imperial  effigy  stamped  on  a  coin  was  considered  as  alone 
giving  value.  Through  the  middle  ages  this  false  idea  has  come 
down  to  us,  and  there  are  many  even  at  this  day  influenced  by  it, 
who  believe  that  the  government  stamp  not  only  gives  currency, 
but  also  value  to  money. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  speak  very  briefly  of  the  subject  of  an 
international  unit,  suggested  by  the  coins  before  us.  The  gold 
stater  of  Alexander  the  Great  was  the  unit  of  his  system,  which 


was  carried  by  his  conquests  to  remote  countries,  and  can  be  con- 
sidered as  the  international  unit  of  later  Grecian  times.  This  stater 
was  the  successor  of  the  gold  daric  of  Persia,  which,  in  turn,  was 
the  successor  of  the  gold  stater  of  Croesus,  King  of  Lydia.  The 
aureus  of  Augustus,  which  was  the  unit  of  his  system,  may  also  be 
considered  as  the  international  unit  of  Imperial  Rome,  which 
dominated  many  nations.  Both  of  these  coins  weigh  about  eight 
grammes.  This  fact  is  mentioned  by  Brandis,  the  eminent  German 
scholar,  who  says  that  the  daric,  the  stater  and  the  aureus  may  be 
looked  upon  as  the  precursors  of  the  present  English  sovereign. 

As  the  metric  system  has  already  been  adopted  by  the  principal 
civilized  nations,  and  must  eventually  be  adopted  by  all,  not,  per- 
haps, with  the  French  nomenclature,  it  being  difficult  to  suppress 
national  terms,  but  by  making  national  weights  conform  to  the 
metric  system — for  instance,  by  making  the  avoirdupois  pound 
exactly  equal  to  half  a  kilogramme,  retaining  the  name  of  pound — 
and  as  coins  will  be  eventually  weighed  by  this  system,  in  proposing 
an  international  unit  it  is  necessary  that  the  piece  selected  should 
be  of  an  even  metric  weight.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  suggested 
last  year,  to  the  American  Social  Science  Association,  that  an  inter- 
national unit  ought  to  weigh  8  grammes  t<t  fine.  Such  a  piece 
would  conciliate  the  English,  German,  French  and  American 
systems,  as  the  sovereign  f|  fine  weighs  7.T%\\,  and  if  T9^  fine  would 
weigh  8.TVA"  grammes,  the  German  twenty-mark  piece  7.TV<&,  a 
twenty-five  franc  piece,  such  as  Spain  issues,  8.T%%%,  and  the  Ameri- 
can half-eagle  S.T%%  grammes.  The  eight-gramme  piece  would  still 
be  called  a  half-eagle,  a  sovereign,  twenty-five  francs  and  twenty 
marks,  and  the  changes  demanded  are  slight,  compared  with  the 
various  reductions  and  modifications  that  have  taken  place,  without 
exception,  in  all  the  monetary  systems  of  the  past. 


